Austin...under the category of "stuff I meant to blog" :)

So my Mom and Bill (Nana and Papa) were coming from Oregon to celebrate my birthday. The kids had been sitting in the living room like anxious birds in a window sill. When they finally drove up, the house erupted with happiness. Only to top itself again when we realized my SISTER was standing there too! Her mother in law (sweet Bebe) had flown her out as a surprise. It felt like magic...as if someone had plucked her out of California and beamed her to my doorstep.

Then moments later, we were around the dinner table, discussing plane rides and wiping macaroni and cheese off the floor. The contrast made me realize again that life is mostly made up of what's ordinary. When you're in vacation mode, there's an inclination to feel like every second must be infused with something amazing. I want to tell you and show you and hear you and see everything about you NOW. Hurry and find the punctuation marks before you have to leave. But mountain tops are a relatively small part of the whole mountain. And when you realize that even vacations are made up of traffic and grocery store runs, you end up having more fun. So that's what I tried to do during their visit...just be present so even the ordinary minutes wouldn't be wasted. 

Like this one of my mom teaching Chance how to make chow fun. Any Hawaiians in the house? :)

Papa is forever pulling pennies out of ears. He's magical that way. And he taught the kids how to do a trick with a dollar that I still can't figure out.

happy birthday to me.  :)

So every night in Austin a million trillion bats fly out of this bridge right at sunset. The tour guide gave us all kinds of interesting info about them. Of course, now all I remember is that they're females. Yep. They kick out all the boy bats. But I don't know why. I wouldn't be a great tour guide.

Here are the peeps waiting...

My little thinker. I think he was looking for turtles. 

My gorgeous (completely flashed out) sister on the boat.

 It really was spectacular. Bet it's fun around halloween time, too.

K. Time to tackle the to-do list. I'm leaving for Winnipeg tomorrow to meet my favorite artist and her cute family for a photo shoot, and wine, and pedicures, and for just general fun. And I know I say this every time and then get too busy. But I'm going to try to blog the whole trip. 

See you in Canada, eh?  :)

THANK YOU!

HOLY COW, you guys are AWESOME. I'm overwhelmed, and amazed and GRATEFUL for your sweet notes, and posts, and tweets, and positive feedback. Seriously. I try not to be attached to results, but it's hard when you've put bits of your heart and soul into something. So THANK YOU. Yesterday turned out to be surprisingly emotional, and moving. I will keep everyone posted about the bags, and I'll leave a link up top for people to still sign up for the mailing list. We had to create a rule in Outlook that automatically filtered those emails into a separate folder. It was amazing. THANK YOU again!

Today I'm getting ready to leave for two weeks (on Thursday). My stomach is flipping for many reasons. But mainly because I have a BAZILLION things to do before I go. And my lymph node is aching. How weird is it that I even know what a lymph node is, and where it's located. But I do because mine is wrapped up in a scar from a surgery I had a couple months ago. I'm not sure this is normal, and the last thing I need is to have a lymph node emergency in another country. So I'm forcing myself to go sit in the waiting room. Feel free to text or email me at my phone as I'm sure I'll be bored. Compounded with anxiety about everything that's not getting done. 

Better go, but posts are better with pictures. So here's a random one of Mimi from a while ago. I love how she's working so hard at that cupcake. 

And it dawned on me that I never blogged about Austin, so I'll do that tomorrow before I leave (again). Have a fab day! xo

cute camera bags...FINALLY!

BIG NEWS! As many of you already know, I've been working (for almost two years now) on a line of camera bags for women. The idea first came to me when I found myself constantly wrapping up my $2000 camera (not to mention the $1700 lens) in a hand towel, and throwing it into my purse. Because who wants to carry an ugly old camera bag IN ADDITION to your regular one?! I started talking to other photographer friends. And they all had their own stories about what they used to wrap up their cameras: sweatshirts, pot holders, wash cloths, bubble wrap. I realized there was definitely a need in the market place for a camera bag that was as FASHIONABLE as it was FUNCTIONAL. So I embarked on the VERY LONG, SOMETIMES FRUSTRATING, BUT TOTALLY WORTH IT journey of MANUFACTURING my own camera bags.

Pictured here, are three of the five different styles. On the interior, they all have velcro-removable panels so that you can arrange each compartment to fit your specific bodies and lenses. It can be a straight-up camera bag. OR, it can be a purse with a compartment for a camera. This makes it perfect for PROFESSIONALS and/or SCRAPBOOKERS. Not to mention just GIRLS WITH NICE CAMERAS. It's really that flexible!

So we're aiming to have the website done in about a month, which is when I'll post details and measurements and all that jazz. But for now, if you'd like to be on the FIRST TO KNOW list

CLICK HERE

SPECIAL TREATS AND DISCOUNTS WILL APPLY. And THANK YOU. Because if I'm honest, I kind of feel like I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve today. I've held this project so closely for the longest time. And now it's out there for everyone to see. Please be nice.   :)  

"tomorrow"

*Cross-posted today over at Shutter Sisters.

Apparently it's the kiss of death when I say that I'll post something "tomorrow". Inevitably it turns into a week of watching Mimi stare into the rain. Then it bugs me, especially on days like today when it's nice and sunny. Well, outside anyway. Inside my head it's been a chaotic hurricane. Had a bit of a melt down about it actually. And realized that my friend Cara was right when she flatly said, "you need someone to help you". *Sidenote: Why are lives so much easier to see when they're not your own? I'd thought about hiring someone SO many times. But then I'd get stuck on what they'd be doing...as if it had to be set in stone. Editing? Emails? Things are so different from day to day. But she helped me to see that I just need an Everything Person. Someone to go to the post office, the grocery store, who can also burn CDs or place orders. I needed a Professional Chaos Diminisher. Does that even exist?! I wasn't sure, but I made a phone call to our awesome babysitter Lindsey, who just started her first year of college. And voila! ASK and you shall RECEIVE. I feel like my life is lighter already.  

Okay, I have some late night editing to get to. But before I go, I wanted to share a few random links that I've been enjoying lately.

Found through Andrea, The Art of Non-Conformity: Unconventional Strategies for Life, Work, and Travel. He's on a mission to visit every country in the world, and is really transparent about his adventures. I love reading it because it touches on my secret desire to live a weird life. Jason and I have always talked about how much we'd love to be that couple that everyone gossips about because they sold everything off and moved into a motor home. 

Oh, that reminds me of a pod cast I heard the other day! It was Jesh DeRox saying that sometimes it's better if people just think you're crazy. That way, whatever you do can be chalked up to their initial decision about you. Consequently, you're not held up to the cookie-cutter standard that society loves to impose so much. Isn't that great? And speaking of pod casts, they're a perfect way to pass the time when the editing becomes mind-numbing. And I found that one at F-Stop Beyond.   

I think I'm the last one in the world, but I've also been finding inspiration at Fluent Self. Havi Brooks is a kind of a life coach, but her site banner reads simply "When you  need some destuckification." Who doesn't love that?

Lastly, she's probably going to kill me for mentioning this because she only has one post up. BUT, my friend Cara (the one I mentioned earlier) STARTED A BLOG! I've been begging. Because you know how Micheal Phelps had flipper feet, and all kinds of other genetic features that defined him as a BORN SWIMMER? Cara is a born writer. And also hilarious. I love her, and you will too. So please go visit and say hello, and bookmark her.  

And maybe someday soon I'll post the Austin pix.  :)

quality time

"The basic human instinct is to pray. Stifle prayer, your passionate longing for communication with the Ultimate, and your existence within, your personality, shrinks and your demeanor turns into a stuffy semblance of something human. This remote resemblance to humanness issues in mannequin men and women." This is the first paragraph of the book my mom gave me for my birthday. Good, right? 

This photo is of Mimi yesterday morning, before school. After this long summer of drought, I'm not sure she recognized the liquid substance that was falling out of the sky. Will post a few from Austin tomorrow. Today I'm spending quality time with my to-do list.

happy thursday :)